May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Exodus and the third chapter and we'll read verse
14. The third chapter of Exodus and
reading verse 14. And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. These were very momentous times
in the life of the children of Israel and indeed really momentous
times in the history of the world. And it is very wonderful really
to be able to trace out God's great goodness and favor to Israel
in raising up Moses to be their leader. And it's always a good
exercise to study the word of God and to observe how these
things came to pass. It wasn't as though, on this
occasion, it was just a haphazard choice. In reality, of course,
we know no one is a haphazard choice, as it may appear sometimes. But nonetheless, here with Moses,
as we go back to the time of his birth, that was quite remarkable,
really, because, as we know, all the young babies were being
destroyed at that time. And because of that, Moses was
hidden in the bulrushes to try and keep him from being found.
But it was not to be. God's divine purpose was none
other than the king's daughter should come along and discover
Moses and be moved by God to take him as her son. And so he
was then brought up in the palace of Pharaoh for those 40 years. If it had not been in that way
determined, it would never have happened. He would never have
had the experience necessary for later life to have been found
in the courts of Pharaoh. And we must be thankful sometimes
in our little lives We can look back and see God placed us in
situations, in positions, we didn't know at the time, but
for a preparation for the work that God had for us in the years
to come. Now, in Moses' life, he was there
for 40 years, and clearly he was able to go and visit his
natural parents because He was shown the truth of God and realized
who the true God was and what a need he had of that true God.
So it wasn't as though he was totally isolated in Pharaoh's
house. He was able clearly to mix with
Israelites and to such an extent that when he was 40 years of
old, he thought they would know that he was the man that God
had determined to use to deliver Israel. He was clearly aware
that the promises of God to Israel would be delivered. He would
come out of Egypt. And the Lord had spoken to him.
We're not told how or when, but clearly had that he was to be
the leader. And he was confident of this.
And as we know, he slew one of the Egyptians. And then when
he was spoken about that, When he was separating his brethren,
he said whether they would in actual fact slay one of them
like he did the Egyptians. He knew then that it would be
known, or it was known. And therefore he left and escaped
into Midian. And there he was with the flocks
for 40 years. We're not told anything really
of that 40 years. But no doubt it was a time of
instruction. It may have been painful instruction. We don't know. But one thing
we do know, he lost his own strength, as it were. He lost his own ability
to believe in himself that he was the one that was going to
deliver the Israelites. And again, it's a wonderful picture
that we have. It's really just like the Apostle
Paul that we spoke of recently in the Ephesians when he classified
himself as less than the least of all saints. And it surely
is a mark of God's mercy and of God's favor towards people
who he's going to use to bring them low in their own estimation. And that's just like Moses. And so we come now to this time,
40 years afterwards, and there he was, singularly in the Mount
Horeb, which is of course Mount Sinai. Amazing, isn't it, that
God led him to that particular place. And there he was, and
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him. He didn't know what
it was to begin with. It was as a flame out of the
midst of a bush. And he looked, and was surprised
it wasn't consumed. And he said, I'll turn aside
and see this great sight. And the Lord called to him out
of the bush, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. Clear
word from God, directed to Moses himself. No one else there, couldn't
mistake it. directed to him. And God does direct his word to his
people. It's as though no one else was
there. Sometimes we might be in a crowd and God speaks directly
to us. We lose sight of the crowd. And
so the Lord spoke to him, draw not neither hither Put off thy
shoes and off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses
hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord
tells him, he's seen the affliction of his people. And he's heard
their cry, their cry which we read those last verses in the
previous chapter, their cry, and they cried, and their cry
came up unto God by reason of their bondage. We should never
think that our prayers do not come up to God. When there's
a cry from our heart, perhaps when we're in bondage, perhaps
when we're in a difficult situation, to never forget to cry to God. Now they didn't know, no idea
what was going to happen, how deliverance was going to occur.
But the Lord graciously and wonderfully formed this plan to deliver Israel. And so he'd heard their cry and
he tells Moses, I've come down to deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land and
to a good land. And he says now, come now therefore,
I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth
my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But he knew it
was God that was speaking. Now he gets a direct commission. Direct commission to that which
he was to do. And that which 40 years ago he
was very confident that he was able to do. But now we see a
very change in his attitude. And he says, who am I? Who am I? That I should go unto Pharaoh
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of
Egypt. Yes, he didn't rate himself very
high now, did he? Who am I? I'm not anything worth
taking notice of? Who am I that I should go unto
Pharaoh? And the Lord comes and speaks
with a great favour. Certainly I will be with thee. No doubt about that, is there?
Certainly I will be with thee. See when God speaks, it is with
certainty. We may perhaps sometimes doubt
the word that God has given, but it's good if you and I go
back and recognize how it occurred and when it occurred and the
circumstances and the situation, so that we're able to believe,
yes, certainly God has spoken. Certainly I will be with thee. And this shall be a token unto
thee, that I have sent thee, when thou hast brought forth
a people out of Egypt, You shall serve God upon this mountain.
We might think, well, that's rather strange, because surely
once Moses had brought them out of Egypt, he's done the job.
And why should he say that this situation will develop? Well,
of course, God knew what the plan was. And God knew that Israel
were going to have to be another 40 years in the wilderness. So
of course, the word that he spoke was so, so true. certainly I'll
be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that I have
sent thee, when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt,
ye shall serve God upon this mountain." He must have looked
back, mustn't he, when he came to Sinai, having been wonderfully
blessed, wonderfully encouraged, to realize, yes, God has been
faithful. He's done that which he spoke
to me of. Certainly, I will be with thee. And then Moses said, behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, the God of your fathers has sent me unto you, and they
shall say to me, what is his name? What shall I say unto them? That's a fair question, wasn't
it? And God gave him a most wonderful and a most glorious answer. I
am, that I am. And he said, I am has sent me
unto you. Well, that means a God who is
past, a God who is present, and a God who is a God in the future. What a wonderful thing that is. You know, apparently in the Hebrew
it can also be translated like this, I will be what I will be. You see, the Lord God is immutable. This God does not change. This God is the same yesterday
and today and forever. And therefore, what a strength
it must have been now to Moses in this situation. But you know,
the Lord didn't leave it there. He encouraged him even further. God said, moreover unto Moses,
thou shalt thus shalt thou send the children of Israel. You see,
the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob had sent me unto you. This is my
name forever. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. How clearly the Israelites would
have understood what he was saying. as he went right back, of course,
to Abraham, their father, who God had spoken to and promised
Israelites what would happen, were promised, spoke purely first
to Abraham. And of course, we know to Isaac
and to Jacob, and God was faithful. But we can imagine perhaps then,
as Moses was commanded to do this, Let's get some little idea
of the great multitude there were. We're told that there were
600,000 men that came out of Egypt. And if you think of all
the women, and you think of all the children, there'd probably
been three million at least. Well, all of our local towns
around here wouldn't make up to that number. So it was a vast
number. The Lord commanded Moses to lead
out of Egypt. Well, no doubt he needed a very
blessed word, and the Lord gave him a very blessed word. And the truth is that we today
still know, should know, that we have this same Almighty God,
I am that I am. I am hath sent me unto you. And of course Moses was to be
wonderfully blessed as he was to lead the children of Israel
out and it wasn't without a very wonderful evidence that the Lord
was with them in a very special way because There were those
plagues which were played out and Pharaoh didn't bow to them. Sometimes he said he would and
then he backtracked. But there came a time when that
last plague, the death of all the firstborn. But the wonderful
situation was that before that occurred, Moses was commanded
to instruct the Israelites with regard to what is referred to
as the Passover. And of course, how very clearly
in that wonderful situation, the Lord Jesus Christ was typified. There were Israel in Egypt, as
they came out of Egypt, they had before them, the wonderful
way of deliverance. And that way of deliverance was
Christ. The wonderful deliverance was
the blood of Christ in the form of the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. And as we perhaps think of that
picture, there they were, there they were, groaning in bondage
in Egypt. And as they came out on that
never to be forgotten night, they came out with the evidence,
the great deliverer was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
who had taken away the sin of the world. And so here was Moses,
able to instruct them in this, how wonderful it was. And of
course he had this Tremendous blessing to be able to say that
God has told me. He it is who sent me. This is
the great God. I am that I am. I am has sent
me unto you. Nothing less than the true God. And so Israel believed. And Israel rejoiced. And the
church of God still today rejoice. deliverance, and they rejoice
of course when they see the cause of their deliverance, which is
of course the shed blood of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this reference to this God,
I am that I am, there are a number of very beautiful references,
we won't go through them all tonight, but just picking up
perhaps the ones in The last book of the Bible, the Revelation,
there was John the Baptist, the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. And in the first chapter, he
tells us, John to the seven churches, verse four, which are in Asia,
grace be unto you and peace from him, the Lord God, which is and
which was and which is to come. see here we have a very clear
picture of the great I am and here it is in the last book of
the Bible just to confirm to us such a great truth given to
Israel so early on and yet you see it is the same God we worship
today. And in the eighth verse of this
same chapter we read, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which
is to come, the Almighty. That's a very strong verse, isn't
it? Surely it should encourage us to know and to believe that
this is the true God, not a false God, this is indeed the very
great and true God. And in the fourth chapter in
the Revelation, and in the eighth verse in that chapter, we read,
and the four beasts had each of them six wings about him,
and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night,
saying, holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty, which was and is
and is to come. No doubt they were worshipping
the true God. What a blessing for us today.
What a blessing today if we receive that faith to believe this great
and glorious truth to know that we are worshipping the God who
always has been. We live in a world where these
things are not believed. not believed for the most part,
even by many people professing to be Christians. And in the
16th chapter of this same book of Revelation, the fifth verse
we read, and I heard the angel of the water say, thou art righteous,
O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast
judged thus. Well, there you are, just a few
very positive references to confirm this great truth that God spoke
to Moses, I am that I am. And so today, if we are privileged
to have God speak to us, we can believe it is this same almighty
God. None less, I am that I am. See, no one can destroy this
God. No one can speak, well they do
speak against this God but they will never be able to at that
last day of judgment. They will realize they stand
before that God who has been from everlasting and is then
and always will be. Now may it be a comfort and a
strength to us as we journey on day by day to know that this
same God who does not change, this is a blessing, isn't it?
He doesn't change. He was the same almighty God
that delivered the Israelites. He's the same almighty God today.
The same almighty God who's done very great things in the history
of the world. And my friends, he's no less
the same great God that has delivered our souls. He's brought us out
of Egypt, spiritual Egypt, spiritual bondage and brought us through
perhaps into the wilderness, but not leaving us like he didn't
leave Israel because he was the great I am. And of course he
was faithful to his promises and he brought Israel safely
into the land of Canaan and my friends he does today. He brings
the church of God safely home. Because I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. So may we have confidence in
this God. And as no doubt, the evil one
will endeavor to cast doubt upon the great name of God. We have
the proof. in the Word of God and throughout
the Word of God, that we worship the One who created all things,
the One who made all things, and the One who is still the
true living God and always will be. And the devil would never
be able to overcome the blessed Saviour. And so may we be helped
and strengthened tonight to rejoice in an account like this in the
Book of Exodus, and to go on our way rejoicing and perhaps
be like the Apostle Paul when he said, I will go in the strength
of the Lord God. of my mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only. You see, it must be for the honour
and glory of God. It was on this occasion, and
so it is in the life of the children of God, so that the Lord Jesus
Christ is lifted up. And of course, when that occurs,
what happens? We are drawn to him, realising
what a saviour we have, what a saviour that has always been
the deliverer, has always been that one who has stood by his
people, ever from the beginning, right to the end of time. And
so may we bless God tonight for a word like this, I am, that
I am. And remember, it's God that's
speaking, no one else. And God said unto Moses, I am,
that I am. And he said, thus shall they
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. Amen.